Side bearing.



W. WHITE.

SIDE BEARING. APPLIGATION FILED 0OT.29, 1908.'

1, 1 1 8,984. Ptented Dec. 1, 19m I W/nesses: W a. W

till

fects.

WILLIAM WHITE, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.

smn BEARING.

intense.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1,

Application filed October 29, 1908. Serial No. 460,047.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicage, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Side Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide an anti-friction side bearing for railway cars.

As is Well-known, it is highly desirable to provide means for permitting the bodies of railway cars to swivel freely upon the trucks. Frictional resistance to such free swiveling, such as results from the use of the friction side bearings now commonly employed, causes injurious strains upon the wheels, and increases the pull necessary to move trains over curves and produces other injurious ef- It has heretofore been proposed to interpose rollers between the body and truck bolsters in place of the usual friction side bearings. ,The simple introduction of rollers, however, has failed to solve the problem, for the reason that the upper and lower members of side bearings do not always contact, owing to the initial clearance and to the tipping of the car bodies. Such sidewise tipping results from the fact that the elevation of the outside rails upon curves is adjusted necessarily to accommodate one speed only. When a car is moved at a rate above this predetermined speed, the outer hearing will close together and the inner one will open, and when a car is moved at a speed below that for which the curve is banked, the inner hearings will close and the outer ends open. The use of roller, or anti-friction side bearings, if a satisfactory .degree of eiiiciency is to be secured, necessitates the employment of some means for keeping the roller in proper relation to the upper and lower bearing surfaces. Assuming that conditions are such that a roller side bearing closes upon the roller and the car body turns upon the truck, thus displacing the roller from its central position, and that, due to a variation in speed or other cause, the bearingthen opens and the car body continues to turn in the same or the opposite direction with reference to the truck, and then closes again upon the roller, the latter will not occupy the proper position relative to the upper and lower bearing surfaces. In this manner the rollers may become moved to their extreme limit in one d1rect1on, and the' next ensuing turning movement of the car body upon the truck may be in the direction to move the roller still farther in the same direction. the roller can move no farther in this directlon, the swiveling movement of the car body will be effected by sliding over the stationary roller, thus resulting in the friction encountered in ordinary friction bearings, and

in addition flattening the roller to such an extent eventually as to render it useless as an anti-friction device. It has also been proposedto introduce means whereby the a'ntl-friction roller will, through the use of inclined bearing surfaces or springs, return to its central position whenever the side bearing opens, thus releasing the roller. Such devices, however, do not obviate the dificulty, for the reason that after the roller has been centered the bearing may close, after the car has entered upon a curve, and under such circumstances, while the roller will be centered with respect to the lower bearing surface upon the truck bolster, its point of contact with the upper bearing surface on the body bolster will be at some distance from the center thereof. The continued turning of the car body upon the truck may thus result in carrying the roller to the limit of its movement as determined by the stop necessarily employed, thus resulting in the slipping of the upper bearing surface over the non-rotating roller.

Among other advantages inherent in my improved side bearing is the fact that the antifriction roller moves with the body bolster, whether the latter is bearing upon the roller or not; i. (2., Whenever the car body rotates upon the truck, the roller follows the taken in connection with the accompany I in; drawing.

In the drawingFigure 1 is a partially sectional view in elevation of my improved side bearing. Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view in elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view with the driver removed on a reduced scale.

But as My; improved side bearingcom rises 11 lower bearing member 1 secured to t e truck ing plates are assembled by slipping them together endwi'se with the lips 6 in engagement with the shoulders 7, which permits free endwise movement of the two bearing plates relative to each other. Prior to assembling' the upper and lower bearing plates, the roller or rollers 8' areplaced in position. upon the lower bearing plate, so

that after assemblage the parts occupy the.

position shown in Fig. 1. The ,upper bearing plate is provided at.its ends with PIO? jecting lugs 9 and stop rods 10, one of which is inserted after the parts are-assembled, and serve to hold the rollers inplace and to prevent the upper and lower bearing lates from becoming separated in case the evice is assembled before being placed on a car, or in case the truck is separated from the car body.

The driver 5 is provided with a downward projection or lug 11,;which is received between two upwardly projecting" lugs 12 adjacent the ends of the upper bearing plate 3. The parts are so proportioned that the tilting of the body of the car will never be sulficient to disengage the downward projection or lug 11 from the shoulders 12 on the bearing plate 3. Thus at all times the bearing plate 3 will be compelled to fbllow the rotative movement of the car body upon its center bearing. WVhile the bearing plate 3 is thus compelled to follow the'horizontal movement of the car body, the latter in its tilting movement leaves the bearing plate undisturbed in its relatiorito the roller 8, and accidental vertical displacement of 'the bearing plate 3 is prevented by the engagement of the lips 6 with the shoulders 7 upon the lower bearing plate.

In order to provide positive means for compelling theroller-8. to maintain its proper relation .to the upper and hiwer bearing plates, I provide these parts with inter: meshing teeth, such teeth taking the'form of cavities 13 in the roller located midway its ends and extending through a portion of its length. The teeth upon the bearing plates 1 and 3 are formed partially above and partially below the bearing surface thereof and are of a length to correspond with the length of the teeth upon the roller 8. The cavities 13 in the roller 8 and the spaces between the teeth 14 upon the upper movement and lower bearing plates are of sufficient depthto prevent contact between the outer ends of the teeth and the inner ends of the leaving the body bolster free to moveiver tically away from theupper bearing plate without disturbing the relation ol the latter to the roller 8 and lower bearing plate 14. i -:.'From the-foregoing it will be apparent that, the upper andrlowerbearing plates are always in engagement with the roller 8, that positive means are provided for causing the roller 8 to rotate whenever there is a relative turning movement between the upper and lower bearing plates, andthat while the body :bolster and carare free to tilt without disturbin the relation between the bearingiplates an .rollerthe upper bearing plate is compelled-to follow the turning ofthe car body upon the truck. Furthermore, my improved side bearing may be adjusted,.if desired, to fit without vertical clearance .between. the bearing plates, rollers and driver, thus avoiding the objections incident to the present attempt to leave just. suflicient clearance to takeup the deflection of the bolsters under fullload for the urpose of avoiding excessive'side bearing riction. I

I claim: p I 1. In a device of the class described, a truck bolster, a body. bolster, an upper hearing. plate movable vertically relative to said .body bolster, means for preventing a l'lOIlzontal movement of said'upper plate relative to said body bolster, a. lower bearing plate fixed to said truck bolster, rollers between and adapted to roll upon said bearing plates, flanges upon said upper and lower bearing plates against which the ends of said rollers abut, interengaging gear teeth upon the central part of said rollers and said bearing plates, and means removably attached to one of said plates in the path of said rollers to limit'endwise movement and to prevent displacement of said rollers from between said plates.

2. In a device of the class described, a truck bolster, a body bolster, an upper bearing plate movable vertically relative to saidplates, flanges upon said upper. and lower 13o (JED, m9.)

hearing plates against which the ends of displacement of said rollers from between said rollers abut, interengaging gear teeth said plates. m upon the central part of said rollers and In testimony whereof, Ihave subscribed said hearing plate, the teeth in said rollers my name.

lying inside of the outer bearing surfaces WILLIAM WHITE. thereof, and means removably attached to Witnesses: one of said plates in the path ofsaid rollers ANNA L. WALTON,

to limit endwise movement and to prevent LILLIAN AJKEBY. 

